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Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Night School: Legacy review

Night School: LegacyC.J. DaughteryJanuary 3rd 2013Atom BooksIn the last year, Allie's survived three arrests, two breakups and one family breakdown. The only bright point has been her new life at Cimmeria Academy. It's the one place she's felt she belongs. And the fact that it's brought the dreamy Carter West into her life hasn't hurt...But far from being a safe haven, the cloistered walls of Cimmeria are proving more dangerous than Allie could've imagined. The students, and faculty, are under threat and Allie's family - from her mysterious grandma to her runaway brother - are at the centre of the storm. Allie is going to have to choose between protecting her family and trusting her friends. But secrets have a way of ripping even the strongest relationships apart...I liked Night School a lot and have been eagerly anticipating this sequel for a few months now. While I had a few issues with some of it, they were all brought up in the book and I enjoyed it a lot despite those things, any way. Besides, this book was a real game changer, and the twists kept on taking me by surprise.My main issue with it was with the characters. Not all of them obviously, but mainly Carter. Carter was, how should I put it... A bit of dick in this book. I'd always liked him more than Sylvain not just as Allie's love interest but as a person, but oh my god Carter! You don't have to be really overprotective and controlling in a relationship to show that you care about your significant other! The main reason this annoyed me (apart from the obvious, you know. That stuff always annoys me.) was that I was worried that it was just going to be ignored, and that Allie wouldn't even be bothered, because sometimes boys in books behave like that and the girl just takes it and that just completely confuses me (I have said this before, and I'll say it again - NOT a romantic). But thankfully it was addressed and led to some interesting developments for Allie romantically. (And yes, Carter fangirls out there. I know he has issues, and that was fully explained too, but seriously. He's never going to be able to keep a girlfriend if he doesn't work through his trust issues!)I don't really know how I feel about Allie in this book. Like, I liked her, and I don't disapprove of any of her decisions or anything (disapprove... Jeez, what even. Who disapproves of a fictional characters actions?), but sometimes she grates on me a little bit. I just think that she has a strong personality, and that's not a criticism at all. I've definitely gone about this the wrong way, haven't I? I'm not complaining that she grated on me, I think is what I'm trying to say. I'd rather have a character who has a personality than one who didn't, you know? And I sometimes just get really lost in Allie's voice. This happened in the first book, too. I'd realize every now and again that the book was actually written in 3rd person and not 1st.The plot was just as great as the first book, too. It follows straight on from the first book, jumping straight into the action. As well as that we get learn a lot more about Allie's legacy (hence the title of the book, I'd imagine) as well as Nathaniel's motivation and a teeny bit of backstory for him, too. There is just always so much drama going on! It's wonderful. I love the way that it balances the drama of what's going on with the school and Nathaniel and the threat that he poses with the drama of being a teenager. There's all the romance stuff, obviously, but there's also a lot of stuff happening with Allie and Jo. Rachel, as always, was my favourite. She's just great, and she's such a good friend to everyone. I really hope nothing bad happens to her (though now that I've said that, I can't help having that terrible feeling that it definitely will.)So yes, Legacy definitely lived up to my expectations. And if you haven't read Night School yet and are in the mood for a great thriller set in a boarding school (I feel like I should add that - people dig boarding schools) with interesting characters and DRAMA you should really give it a go.